Monday, January 2

One of the choices might surprise us. Then again, it might not. Here it is:________

COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS – A five-dollar phrase on a nickel-errand. Value-added into many higher education mission statements. “Not to be confused with ‘school.'” – Jim Howard from Mishawa, Ind.________

I use this as forensic evidence in my case against the resistance movement within educational institutions whose counter-revolutionary mission is to squelch informal learning. Howard fittingly deflates university mission statements, and by the same token, the whole business of mission statements, which usually announce clearly what an institution is unwilling to invest in but, by formalizing it as part of the "mission", expects its members will implement spontaneously. However, his idea that "community of learners" is an overblown synonym for "school" shows he hasn't read the literature (starting with Etienne Wenger).

If I were into grades, I'd give both Howard and the Lake University an "F". But as I'm more into communities of learners, I'd prefer extending an invitation to the entire "educational community" (should this term also be banished?) to join the world of thinkers and doers concerned by learning rather than the defense of sclerotic superstructures.

What's nasty about this kind of "humor" (or sarcasm) is that it borders on PC, with the same perverse spirit of manipulation. The "banishing" metaphor is revelatory. But what it really reveals, coming from the academic community, is the refusal to move outside the box of the formal institution ("school") to recognize that, even before technology moved in, learning was essentially a social phenomenon and the campus a social institution, par excellence. More significantly, I see this as an attempt to cut off all discussion of how the social dimension of learning is evolving and may evolve to achieve better performance.

In any case, it provides clear proof that the reactionary resistance movement is well armed, which is sad, because the members of the academic community who pride themselves on being promoters of knowledge would be the first to benefit from the creative and productive role they could be playing interacting with communities of learners rather than being mere lackeys to the established hierarchy.

Subscribe To

Follow by Email

About the LC Blog

The LC Blog is a community feature that Learning Circuits launched in 2002. The main feature of the LC Blog is its Question of the Month, which hones in on a priority topic facing learning professionals. Anyone--and everyone--can contribute to the LC Blog.

Search This Blog

Loading...

About Learning Circuits

ASTD launched Learning Circuits in January 2000. Its goal was to promote and aid the use of e-learning, creating a body of knowledge about how to use technology efficiently and effectively for learning. There are nearly 800 articles currently on the website.

About ASTD

ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) is the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals. ASTD is dedicated to providing resources to practitioners working the field of e-learning. ASTD delivers the free webzine Learning Circuits, the ASTD TechKnowledge Conference & Exposition; two educational certificate programs on e-learning design; and numerous books and Infolines.